THE MOUNT ST. BERNARD DOG. 203 
however, there is no doubt that they have been, and still are, 
exceedingly useful, and the breed is kept up at the monastery of 
Mount St. Bernard. The coat varies a good deal in length, there 
being in England two distinct varieties founded upon this point, 
viz., the rough and the smooth. Mr. Macdona, who has been at 
great trouble and expense to import both of the best Swiss strains, 
leans to the rough, but there are many who still adhere to the 
smooth variety. I shall now describe each in order. 
(A) THE ROUGH ST. BERNARD. 
(See Frontispiece.) 
I shall not attempt to settle the vexed question whether the 
rough or smooth variety is the genuine one, believing that both, 
as now existing, are completely modern creations. From the 
engraving given by Youatt, which is reproduced on the opposite 
page, we should be led to believe that the old breed was certainly 
not smooth, but, as I said before, no existing strain can be traced 
back more than thirty or forty years, and as it has always been 
limited until lately to a very small district, there is no reason 
to consider it as anything more than a strain of mastiff crossed 
at the discretion of the monks of St. Bernard. It is not even 
pretended that they have kept up their breed without out-cross, 
but having lost it for a time, they obtained a dog of the old strain 
which had been kept in another kennel, and used him in their 
stud, but the bitches from which they bred to him were not pure- 
bred. Mr. Macdona began by importing “Tell” and his sister 
“ Hedwig,” both rough; he then obtained his smooth “ Monarque,” 
after which Mr. Murchison obtained his rough dog “Thor,” and 
Miss Hales her “Jura.” From these sources the various strains 
now occupying the show-benches of the chief shows have been 
obtained. “Thor,” though of a bad colour (red and white), has 
been more successful asa sire than ‘Tell,’ and most of the best 
dogs of the present day are descended from him. Both the rough 
and smooth greatly resemble the mastiff, but specially the latter, 
the former showing a cross with the Newfoundland, and both being, 
from their narrow head, sunken eyes, and frequent exhibition or 
“ sealing-wax,” most probably crossed with the bloodhound, whose 
fine nose was no doubt the temptation. 
